Road surfacing firm on track to lay 70,000 tonnes of asphalt on Lincolnshire’s roads in 2018

Published:14:48Tuesday 13 November 2018

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Minster Surfacing, which works alongside Lincolnshire County Council and Kier to resurface and repair roads across Lincolnshire, is thanking road users for their patience as it nears the end of a very busy year of work.

Minster Surfacing alone is expecting to use 70,000 tonnes of asphalt on the county’s roads by the end of the year. That equates to at least 210,000 square metres of coverage; the equivalent of resurfacing the A158 from Lincoln to Horncastle.

Meanwhile, construction supplier Tarmac reports that this year, the company has delivered record volumes of material in Lincolnshire to support the investment in the county’s roads.

This summer saw roadworks taking place at almost 1,000 locations across Lincolnshire as Lincolnshire County Council invested in repairing roads across the county. As a key member of the supply chain, many of those works were carried out by Minster Surfacing which has also been repairing thousands of potholes in the county.

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways said: “This year, we’ve been working hard to repair roads right across Lincolnshire.

“With 5,500 miles of roads across one of the most rural counties in the UK, road repair is always a challenge, but, with investment from central government, we’ve been working hard to get the roads up to standard.

“There’s still plenty more work to be done, with the the help of Minster Surfacing, Kier and others in the supply chain, we’re making great progress in improving the roads for everyone.”

As well as the asphalt that the company uses, Minster Surfacing is also using tens of thousands of tonnes of Foambase, a sustainable alternative to asphalt which it makes by recycling material the team remove from roads.

Added to this recycled material, a significant amount of the asphalt the company uses is produced from secondary aggregates supplied by leading constructions solutions provider, Tarmac. This reuses by-products of industrial processes in steel manufacturing to create materials with high sustainability and performance credentials for use on the road network.

Shaun Davidson, Managing Director, Materials - North & Scotland at Tarmac, said: “This year we’ve delivered record volumes of material in Lincolnshire to support the investment in the county’s roads. It’s rewarding to work collaboratively with the team at Minster Surfacing who share our commitment to sustainability and reducing the amount of new material used on the network.

“We’re proud to see our focus on the delivery of high quality highways products benefiting Lincolnshire County Council and the travelling public.”

As well as the secondary aggregate used in asphalt on the roads from Tarmac, around 50 per cent of the material Minster Surfacing removes from highways goes on to be recycled, an achievement which helped it to win two Lincolnshire Environmental Awards in 2018.

As well as cutting the carbon footprint and reducing waste, the technology also enables Minster to safely reuse material which contains the hazardous material coal tar which can cost local authorities up to £100 per tonne to take to landfill.

Managing Director of Minster Surfacing, Bruce Spencer-Knott said: “Lincolnshire County Council has been making real investments into the county’s roads and as a result, we’ve been really busy. This year, we’ve used more asphalt than ever before in Lincolnshire because we’ve never worked on so many roads.

“When you consider that our teams are working much more efficiently thanks to the latest technology including 3D scanning, computer-aided design, GPS and automated machinery and since we’re recycling half of the material we remove from the roads we work on, that’s even more impressive.

“We’re wasting less, recycling more and we’re working faster so we can repair more roads each year while cutting our carbon footprint and causing less disruption for motorists and residents. It’s making a real difference.

“In the recent Budget, the Chancellor has committed to giving an extra £420m to help councils repair roads and fix potholes so I’m confident to keeping this momentum going to continue bringing real improvements to the county’s roads.”

In August, Mr Spencer-Knott spoke to the media to urge motorists to slow down as they passed his teams working on the roads and to respect temporary speed restrictions. Now the majority of work has been completed, he says he’s grateful for the public’s patience.

He said: “I know that it can be frustrating when we’re having to close roads for maintenance and repairs, but this year we’ve been able to resurface more roads across Lincolnshire than ever before which is making real improvements for road users. As we went into the summer, I was anxious about the speed at which people were driving past my teams when they’re working on the roads, and I’m pleased to say that a lot of drivers seem to have taken the message on-board and they have been driving a little slower than previously which is great news.

“I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and for their help in keeping my teams safe by slowing down when they pass.”

For the latest information on roadworks being carried out by all local authorities and utility companies, visit: www.roadworks.org.